He tweets: "Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!" It was not clear what prompted the tweet Tuesday morning.

But the comment comes after a Massachusetts college stopped flying all flags on campus. Hampshire College made the decision after people on campus lowered a flag to half-staff after Trump was elected president. The flag was then found burned on Veterans Day.

McCarthy told reporters Tuesday that he does not "support or believe in the idea of people burning the American flag. I support the First Amendment."

Wisconsin congressman Sean Duffy earlier suggested on CNN's "New Day" Tuesday that Trump's tweet was wrong. He said, "We want to protect those people who want to protest....I disagree with Mr. Trump on that."